How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air: The Story of Man's Endeavors to Fly and of the Inventions by Which He Has SucceededFerris, Richard
Science
How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air: The Story of Man's Endeavors to Fly and of the Inventions by Which He Has Succeeded
Ferris, Richard
Aeronautics
In 1900 there were several balloon voyages notable for their length.
Jacques Balsan travelled from Vincennes to Dantzig, 757 miles; Count
de la Vaulx journeyed from Vincennes to Poland, 706 miles; Jacques
Faure from Vincennes to Mamlity, 753 miles. In a subsequent voyage
Jacques Balsan travelled from Vincennes to Rodom, in Russia, 843 miles,
in 27½ hours.
[Illustration: The balloon in which Coxwell and Glaisher made their
famous ascent of 29,000 feet.]
One of the longest balloon voyages on record in point of time consumed
is that of Dr. Wegener of the Observatory at Lindenberg, in 1905. He
remained in the air for 52¾ hours.
The longest voyage, as to distance, up to 1910, was that of Count de
La Vaulx and Count Castillon de Saint Victor in 1906, in the balloon
“Centaur.” This was a comparatively small balloon, having a capacity
of only 55,000 cubic feet of gas. The start was made from Vincennes on
October 9th, and the landing at Korostischeff, in Russia, on October
11th. The air-line distance travelled was 1,193 miles, in 35¾ hours.
The balloon “Centaur” was afterward purchased by the Aero Club of
America, and has made many voyages in this country.
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale, an association of the
aeronauts of all nations, was founded in 1905. One of its functions is
an annual balloon race for the International Challenge Cup, presented
to the association by James Gordon Bennett, to be an object for
competition until won three times by some one competing national club.
The first contest took place in September, 1906, and was won by the
American competitor, Lieut. Frank P. Lahm, with a voyage of 402 miles.
The second contest was from St. Louis, Mo., in 1907. There were three
German, two French, one English, and three American competitors. The
race was won by Oscar Erbslöh, one of the German competitors, with an
air-line voyage of 872¼ miles, landing at Bradley Beach, N. J. Alfred
Leblanc, now a prominent aviator, was second with a voyage of 867
miles, made in 44 hours. He also landed in New Jersey.
The third race started at Berlin in October, 1908, and was won by the
Swiss balloon “Helvetia,” piloted by Colonel Schaeck, which landed in
Norway after having been 74 hours in the air, and covering a journey of
750 miles. This broke the previous duration record made by Dr. Wegener
in 1905.
The fourth contest began on October 3, 1909, from Zurich, Switzerland.
There were seventeen competing balloons, and the race was won by E. W.
Mix, representing the Aero Club of America, with a voyage of 589 miles.
The fifth contest began at St. Louis, October 17, 1910. It was won by
Alan P. Hawley and Augustus Post, with the “America II.” They travelled
1,355 miles in 46 hours, making a new world’s record for distance.
Among other notable voyages may be mentioned that of the “Fielding”
in a race on July 4, 1908, from Chicago. The landing was made at West
Shefford, Quebec, the distance travelled being 895 miles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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